Prince of Twilight - Maggie Shayne

Awesome book. So think you should read. My copy has a better cover but I doubt that that affects the story none. Not gonna tell you what happens as will spoil the ending, my fav bit (other than the whole book) is the ending.

Is about Dracula and the love of his life. So very funny and excellently written.

Top marks for sure (whatever the marks are out of it gets the most possible)

Done for another year

Christmas is once again over. Seems that it is over quicker than some years (but then I think it feels like September/October-ish so that might have something to do with it) which means that soon it is going to be 2010.
Some important things are happening in 2010, the first of these being that Mum will be able to retire in 10 years time (assuming the law doesnt change in relation to retirement age, which we are assuming).
Schumi will race again which means there is reason to watch f1 again, mostly to make sure he takes out Hamilton if Hamilton doesnt manage to take himself out.
I will hopefully be able to pay of my student loan (fingers crossed on this one and if not 2010 then early 2011 I hope).
I will be turnign 25 (old I know) and to either celebrate or mourn this event there will be a party. You have been warned!

Until then though, look after yourself and enjoy this merry (?) time of year.

You may not believe in Karma but he sure believes in you!

Over the weekend my dyed and cut my hair. It is now dark brown and I have a fringe. I reckon it makes me look older but I still, apparently, do not look old enough to buy a scratchie (got ID'd today). Is annoying. Atleast I won, and more than normal (was a $3 one, normally only win $5 but today won $8). Wahoo!!!

Anyhow today was a good day. I find that when people ask you how your day was when you get home it don't matter how it went, all you really remember is that last thing that made you happy or mad or sad or whatever. So today was a good day and that is all cos I went home via Inglewood Library, one place that is guarenteed to make me happy. Got some good books (I hope atleast) and had a good chat with Bridget.

Hope your day was good too :)

Best Ad possible ever

This ad cracks me up all the time. So does the one where the lamb loses first leg. Gotta love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_Phyg9Klc

Enjoy :)

In The Blood - Adrian Phoenix

Have you ever read a book so good that you wanted to do nothing but read but also did not want to read it (and not because you didn't want it to end but because had fallen in love with the characters and you knew something bad was going to happen but by not reading maybe it wouldn't)?

In The Blood was like that for me. I knew something was going to happen to Dante and possibly Heather, Von and Lucien and I knew it was going to be bad. Figured that if I didn't read anymore then they would stay safe. Well turns out I was no good at the not reading, book was just to good plus I figured that by the end of the book the bad stuff would have happened and they would be safe, well till the next book and then more/different bad might happen.

I WAS WRONG!!!

That is not unusual in life in general but for a book it kinda is. I was right that cad stuff would happen, it did. Was almost worse than what I thought was going to happen. Where I was wrong is that they are not ok. Dante is unconsious, Lucien is who knows (alive or dead we are not told), Heather and Von are ok (well alive and conscious). But they (Dante, Von and Heather) are in a car with a possible friend/possible enemy, we are not sure on that either. Now all I have to do is wait till the next book is released (Jan 2010 supposedly) in America where I have it on preorder through Amazon so it will be posted to me (cant find these books (other than the first one) in NZ for some reason).

Not fair, hurry up January!!!

Some important things to note:

First and in my opinion most important, it came to my attention the other day that Dofus is getting too close to turning 60 so he has been re-aged (as it is possible to do in my world and since I live in my world it has been done). He is now 48, turning 49 next year, which makes Mum the older of the two. In a few years she may be re-aged as well but at the moment she is not that old (54 is hardly 60 now is it).

Brudda’s home!!!

Started my new job (at NPDC for all you who didn’t know, working down in the dungeon in Admin/Project Team. Am working with Building Consents) on Monday, and so far it is pretty good. Got fun people working around me. The work, I think, could become pretty tedious, well I thought that on the first day but it turns out it probably wont as there is lots that I get to do, like stationary deliveries every Tuesday.

It is once again almost Christmas (have you also noticed that), and just to let everyone know so no one asks or expects one, I aint gonna do Christmas cards this year so apologies if you wanted one. Feel free to sign one to yourself and put my name at the bottom if you really want one :)

If any one has any connections that could help with my new improbable goal in life feel free to help me out. I want to race Rick Kelly at Pukekohe in a NZV8 car. I plan on winning but just racing Little Kelly would be enough I think. So if you have a couple spare (or even just one) NZV8’s lying round at home or Little Kelly’s phone number would be neat if you could help me out :)

Are you a winner...

JB Times Awards:

Quiz -
Most Amusing: Mum ~ purely because she is adamant that she got the last question correct when she didn’t.
Hephaistion is the correct answer for what I am going to my Rottweiler. Mother the answer that you put (Bartholamew) was what I am going to call my Lab. For those that are curious my Husky is going to be called Zanzibar.
Most Helpful: Richard ~ thank you for putting your guessing in a different color to the answers that you ‘knew’ that answers to. Very good.
Most Correct (apparently): Dofus ~ and I quote ‘I’m always right you gotta mark my answer as correct’

Riddle Fun -
Apparently nobody trusts hotels, that is what I learnt from this section. Also Richard and Dad think that Mum’s heavenly room is a mushroom (or is it that Mum thinks a mushroom is a heavenly room???)
Prizes for all as you all attempted this section, but no one got all right, cept me J

Logos and Catchphrases -
Most Correct: Richard
Most Amusing Answer: Mum – number 5, love the answer.
Most Bizarre Answers: Dofus.

Overall Winner: Dofus. Congrats J

If you wondering why there are only three people in the awards it is because only three people entered. Not so impressive, I gave you guys plenty of time to answer the questions and send them in.

Prizes are on the way...

'Rain in my brain again, and everything is strange'

Like normal nothing much has happened since I last wrote, but shall update just incase something comes up that I had forgotten about and managed to remember while I type.

Guess the most major thing that has happened is that I start work on Monday. Am going back to Briscoes Homeware (Debbie has been nice enough to give me job until I find a full-time one). Part if me is looking forward to going back, especially as it means will see my mates there more often and it will give me something to do with at least some of my days. Part of me is not looking forward to going back, the part that remembers that customers are very often wrong and rude but of course you cant tell them that.

In less major but still interesting news, went on a steam train trip on Saturday. From New Plymouth to Hawera and back again. Was a very good trip down, on the way back there were a few dramas. Stopped at Stratford to pick up a bus load of passengers but ended up waiting two hours for them as their bus broke down.
Then when we finally got under way again, just outside of Stratford we hit a bull and had to stop again while they mended the damage done to the brakes on the train. At least the bull didn’t derail us, the cow stopper did its job. When we got to Inglewood and stopped for afternoon tea I got off, no point going to NP just to come back to Inglewood again.

In probably pointless news to you but matters to me as it is weird, my radio seems to be tuned into ZM these days not The Rock. Weird huh? Think its cos the songs on ZM are not the same as the ones playing when I left yet on The Rock they are. How dumb is that, I was gone for four months, there should be more songs that I have not heard before than there are on that station. They say change is good.

Sad and Big news, I cleaned out my teddy bears. Decided that I had too many to love properly and there are kids out there with none to love and since it is coming up to Christmas I could possibly make some kids happy so I sorted out my teds, and took the ones that didn’t have a special meaning to me to the Salvation Army. They were very thankful for them. Took around 50, which means that I am down to 40 something (including the ones that I am babysitting for Richard and Dad). Impressive huh?

Not that I've ever wnated to be but...

I'm in fashion!

Well kinda, and if I lived in LA that is. Apparently the Vampire craze is in over there, so much that it is in to be pale. People are staying out of the sun and buying pale shades of make-up to appear more pale. The make-up one I cant do as for some reason it is very hard (would say impossible but that is leaving it open for someone to prove me wrong and I have Dof for that) to buy make-up paler than I am.

But yay, for once being pale is a good thing. Bout bloody time really.

Been awhile but here I am!

So its been a while. Yes I am back in NZ, have been for about two weeks now I think. Things are going well, have got myself a part time job till I find a proper job, and no surprise it is back at Briscoes. Least over Christmas period there will be a bit of work so that is good. Will be working at least three days a week by the looks.

Singapore was fantastic fun. Was good to chill and sightsee and shop with Mum. We had a busy yet lazy time over there. Did quite a bit of walking which was nice. Spent a lot but am pleased with what I got. We went to Little India (real India is better), Chinatown, The Night Safari, Singapore Flyer, River Cruise, Fort Canning Park, Raffles (where I got a photo taken with Mr. Raffles, he is a very nice chap though he is rather pale (even more so than me)), and probably more places. Got some nice summer tops and lots of nice souvenirs for me and some for others J

Finally got round to reading a John Grisham book last week, well kinda. Skipped lots of pages as I found it rather not good. Don’t think I’ll be reading another but at least I now know why I don’t read his books.

Still have to read a western by the end of the year so if you have a fav or one that you think I should read please feel free to let me know. Reason I want/have to read one by the end of the year is that since it is about the only genre I haven’t read a book from I made it a new years resolution to read one this year, which is real weird as I don’t make new years resolutions, well cept for that one.

JB Times quizzes, those of you that sent in your entries, are in the process of being marked and prizes being assigned. Results will be posted soon.

Internet here sucks big time so will try post again sometime soon, but depending on my patience it may not get done. Also prefer to type up on my laptop as it has the keypad that I like but it is not so happy at the moment and also not working well. Not sure if dropping it had anything to do with it as it was getting crap before the dropping, think that it just sped up the dying.

Last day at Sangam

Yesterday was my last full day at Sangam and it was pretty good - once I got my packing sorted (thanks Kylie, she is posting me some stuff).
In the afternoon we performed Pooja on everything at Sangam. The reason for this is so that everything goes well and nothing breaks down or creates any trouble. We also did it on the safe to bring in more money. It was fun and by the end we got rather good at it. To start with we (all us vols) watched and the ladies and men did the pooja and slowly Aruna got us to do it (for places like the programme room as they are our computers and photocopier). Then Aruna left us to do our rooms ourselves (just the at the door to bless everything inside), Sayali came up with us to help but by then we was pretty good.

Got a few final packing things to do and then it is chill out till we leave. Gwen is coming to Mumbai with me as her flight is half an hour after mine. I am gettting some more Mehendi done so will be semi covered in it by the time I leave. Not sure if it will still be there when get home but Mum will vouch that it was pretty.

Am looking forward to coming home, and to Singapore holiday but don't want to leave here either. Guess that is life

Last day almost over...

Dunno whether to be happy or sad....

Think both cover it pretty well

Had a request for an update so here one is :)

Can't reme,ber the last time I wrote an update as such about what is going on here and stuff but here is one now which will count so yay!

Our last event finished a week or so ago, it was a Advocacy Seminar and was therefore not as fun as such as the other events but it was still fun in its own way. We had a little group (only 23 participants) from many different countries, and none from the UK. They were from Cananda, Denmark, Egypt, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Ukraine and I think that is it.
Because of the type of event most of the participants were here on scholorships which was kool for them but also kind of sad as that means that they do not get to travel afterwards. Easy for us though as we did not have to take any of the groups to the train station, and this was useful as we were taking the afternoon off.

During the days off after this event we went to Aamby Valley for a few days. This is the weirdest place ever. I think we decided that it was the Scottish HIghlands, but also a movie set or something similar. The tents that we stayed in looked just like tents from the outside, walk inside and instantly you are in a hotel style room with a fridge, tv, ac and a very comfy looking bed (boy was that a let down. It had perfect pillows and duvet but the worst materess ever, oh well still nice tent), it was just like how we had imagined the Harry Potter tents.

During this time the new volunteers arrived and we are currently training them to be us, but better. Training involves taking them on the tours that we take participants as they will need to be doing these and they need to buy their own Sari's and Punjabi's. We are taking them through the pre-event prep that needs to be done and the sessions that they will be helping run or running (this mostly is just showing them around the computer network so that they can find the information that they will need). We also have to show them the good places to go out at night (I know our job is so hard), this is because sometimes they will take participants and also if there is a night off participants will ask them. Similar reasons for why we have to take them shopping in the other good areas that we do not take the tours, so that when participants ask where there is good shopping or where they can get a good something they can answer these questions.

On Saturday we finally went to the Snake Park, have been wanting and meaning to since we got here and yet never managed to get there. As it is a rather long drive and can be hard to get a rickshaw Sayali arranged one for us (her dads friend) and this was great as it was a set rate and he was going to wait and take us home after we was done. Turns out he didnt have any other plans that day and was happy to take us around the Park and Zoo (which was next door), very good as we wouldve walked down many dead ends.
Both were really kool and we learnt that I could jump as far as a Small Deer and Manisha a Rabbit. Also we learnt that a sloth bear is super cute and fluffy and that Indian Big Cats take seista. Photos are coming.

Currently it is Dassera, and for this Grishma is fasting and also not wearing shoes for the duration (9 days). This I think sounds fun but Katey has forbidden me from doing a shoe fast, evil person :)
As with most, if not all, festivals here this is very community orientated. Over the road is our local neighbourhood Phulenagar and each night of the festival there is dandiya (Indian stick dancing). Last night we all went over and joined in. Boy is it a work out. I think we danced for at least half an hour without stopping. Sayali and Grishma live there and we taking part which is why we went (it is not polite to go and join in this sort of thing if you do not know anyone). Also many of the local guides were there and we all kinda know each other as they come to Sangam every Sunday afternoon for there meetings. They are coming to campfire on Thursday night which will be great.

Not this effects any of you much but Sayali has started college now, so she doesnt work here as much no more. She is one of the guides, and has been working with the Admin Team for most of monsoon while she was on break. She now works evenings and Sundays.

Not long left here now which is sad but exciting to. Just gotta get round to packing eventually....

The most evilest Evil of them all!

Pollution!

And if you disbelieve me on this fact then you are just plain wrong this time!!!!

Here is why: Imagine you already have difficulty getting a good nights sleep but now it is even harder (almost impossible) due to the fact you are having difficulty breathing. You feel as though your lungs are not working properly and definalety not taking in enough oxygen. Along with this lovely new development is a cough. A cough that has nothing to do with a cold (as you do not have one) yet wont go away and also keeps you up at night. Due to these two things it is harder to work during the day and much harder to take people on tours in the city. Thankfully we are only training the new volunteers as this means that I am not needed for all the tours we have to teach/show them.

Only a few weeks till fresh clean air. The scary thing is that Pune is one of the clean cities in India.

Cat and Mouse...

Strange happenings, should be used to them by now but when animals are involved it becomes a bit too weird.

On Wednesday Manisha, Katey and I had some things to discuss for work and a messy programme room that needed more space so we decided to combine the jobs and clean and discuss together. Manisha and I decided to start with the swaps box and the boxes and bags filled with specific country stuff for international nights and country banners.
I pulled out the box of American stuff to see what worth keeping and what should just be thrown out. When I opened the box Katey informed us that it stunk (like we didnt already know, we were closer than she was) and that it smelt like something died in there. Braving the smell I started going through it all, most of it was keepable but some we decided was worthless and should be chucked.
Just as I was about to reach for a bandanna to chuck I noticed that there was a weird furry brown thing on it - good thing I didn't grab the bandanna straight off as after closer inspection the furry thing turned out to be a mouse carcuss, mostly decompsed. Ick complete. No wonder the corner where the box was stunk so bad, and the box when it was opened. We grabbed the box and the bin and all the stuff that was in the bin and took it outside, then tracked down a man to throw it all out. Totally disgusted yet giggling at the fact that Katey was right and there was a dead animal.
We had to burn incense and candles to get rid of the smell in the programme room, and after some dicussion decided that we should continue going through the boxes and bags that were left as the chances that there would be another mouse - dead or alive - was very slim (though would have thought that with the first).
The real mystery is how it got in there in the first place and how long it had been there. At least six months as we didnt go into it and Sara, Gemma and Maddy left then at that would have been the soonest that anyone had opened the box.

Well that is the mouse explained, ready for the cat?

Last night, after finally falling asleep, I woke up to a strange sound. It sounded like it was coming from in our room. Turns out I wasn't imagining things as Manisha woke up to and asked if I could hear it. We was discussing whether it was a bird or what when one of us suddenly came up with idea of a cat. This may seem surprising that it took so long for is to think this but if you haven't heard a cat for over three months you might take a while to.
Then Manisha had the bright idea that it was coming from the wall, it was 1 in the morning. We then figured maybe it was coming from under my bed. As I was still in bed Manisha got up and looked under my bed for me. There was a black and white furry something there.
After a discussion on whether we could go and ask Mangesh (the night watchman) to get the cat out we decided that we could. Hoping he was awake and in the breezeway we went down to see him. He skeptically followed us upstairs and when he crouched down to look under the bed, he seemed surprised that yes there was indeed a cat there.
What followed was rather amusing. Mangesh trying to get the cat out, insisting that it would run left out of our room and straight outside. Believe it or not it turned right and ran down the hallway to stop and hide under the couch in the library. Mangesh then tried to get it to return back down the hallway to go outside (couldn't send it downstairs as the dogs were down there). It got halfway down then changed its mind and got past Mangesh who was guarding the hall again. Bubli (one of the dogs) smelled cat and come up the stairs (dogs not allowed up the stairs), and finally Mangesh got the cat out of a hole in a window in the library.
Also a mystery when and how it got into our room, but at least this one was alive, scrawny and mangy but alive.

Lets hope that is the end of our animal dramas

It's been a while but I ain't forgotten you :)

It's been a busy few weeks here at Sangam. We have just finished our two biggest events (have forgotten what I have already mentioned so some of this may be double upped), both over 60 people and both affected by Swine Flu although the first was affected worse than second - well more sudden anyhow. We had enough warning that it was going to affect some of the sessions so we planned ahead - good thing we did. We were meant to take the participants to the big festival happening in Pune for Ganesh (one of the Gods in Hinduism) but it was cancelled due to the flu thing going around. The festival was/is still being held just not the big city party that we wanted to go to. Tomorrow we are planing to go to the river as it is one of the last nights and some of the locals will be there emerging their Ganesh in the river. Some have already done this as it is a ten day festival. They do know how to party here :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBZjJoSNvhw
Check out what I got to do last event because of Swine Flu. Yes me and some of the participants got to build a path. Yay :)

Cant member what else I was going to say... Does that mean it is not important - no I don't think so, just means I'm getting too old. Don't worry Dofus not long to go...

Hopefully my next post wont be so long coming...
Wish me luck

Me again

Hey things are quiet here at the moment as we have a few days off and there is still not a lot of places open, rumor has it that they will be reopening on the 23rd, was the 20th but there have been more swine flu people so has been postponed. We have just finished our biggest event participant-wise (65, Sangam is meant to only book up to 55 so we was rather full and very busy), and the next event is not much smaller (62).

We have some new faces here as the CVPs are arriving. CVPs are part of the Community Volunteer Programme. They live here but work with a Community Partner instead of like me helping with the events and participants.

Yesterday Priyanka taught us (Gwen, Manisha and I) how to ride her scooter (it is a auto so not that hard at all), which was very fun and good to do something new for a change. We drove up and down the driveway, so there is no need to worry about me getting hit by any cars :)

Tomorrow I have no idea what we are going to do but we may go out for a coffee, coffee shops and bars are still open ~ strange enough.

Swine Flu Update

Just incase you are following the Indian news and are wondering what is happening, or just wanna know how much this is affecting a Guiding World Centre here is an update.

Rickshaw drivers do not want to take us foriegners in their rickshaws as we may have swine flu which makes taking participants out hard. We are running a community action event which was going to be centred around the theme education, but the schools are closed due to swine flu. We were going to take the participants to the movies tomorrow night as the event is not what they signed up for no more so that was going to be a going out treat, but now all the cinemas and malls are closed due to swine flu.

There is talk that there is going to be a curfew impossed for everyone, one is already in place for resturants and bars - they have to be closed at 9pm as that is when they get real busy over here and crowded. There is also talk of if things get worse there will be an enforced lockdown...

Lets hope things get better, even if that just means that we get some much needed rain...

Ever tried putting your shoes on in the reverse order?

I tried and discovered that I cant. Left foot has to be first... Please tell me Im not the only strange one....


Finally another post :) I have been very busy recently and have jsut had a productive three days off. First we learnt Indian Stick Dancing. This is very fun and not quite as hard as first imagined though it is also not easy. Hopefully this link works - it should show you what we learnt only we learnt the basic steps not the complicated ones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shhCHVrJSOE


Manisha and I got the bike tyres pumped so that we could ride the bikes. Now this may seem like an easy job but here you soon learn that easy is not something that often happens to be what it should. First we had to find out who knew which bikes were the Sangam bikes not the local staff's bikes, next we had to find the keys to unlock them. When we found out which bikes we could use we did not know that this next step was needed until we went to push them and they wouldn't move. After finding the keys we had to work out how to unlock them (this was the shortest task as only took about 15 mins), and then we had to find the shop that pumped the tyres (for only RS2 which is pretty good). Then we got to go ride :) We rode round the campgroud and driveway (do not entirely trust the tyres to stay up for a long ride yet). Incase you are sitting there thinking that this is probably a day's job, just to let you know we have been working on this since our third week here.


Today we went to Pavarti Hill (where at the top you find Parvati Temple and beautiful views) which was good fun. We took the bus for as far as we could then rickshawed to the base of the steps. Bus is cheaper but much harder to take. The reason for this is that all the destinations are written in Marati (logically considering we live in Maharastria), and seeing as we cannot read Marati this was a small mission. Managed it ok though mostly thanks to Manisha who can read some letters and words and could kinda recognise the bus we wanted. Yay :)

Bollywood Dancing (this is part of my job - to be enthusiastic so that the participants come and have fun to)

Gwen and Manisha at the top of Parvati Temple

Me in my sari (tied Gujarati style so that the Palu can be admired better)

I miss my hoodies

Hello there, how are you doing? I am well thank you. Have just had three days off which we all put to good use. Manisha went to Mumbai to see her relatives while Katey, Zan, Gwen and I went to Mahbaleshwar with Sidd and Rahul.

Mahbaleshwar is up in the hills and when we were told that it would be cold there we all thought ‘Indian cold so maybe take jeans instead of shorts’, well it was cold and not just Indian cold, though not NZ cold as could feel all my toes the whole time and I didn’t wear socks that much. We did need to wear the jerseys that we took which made us very happy. Us being all but Sidd and Rahul as being Indians they found us weird for being excited as to the coldness. It was also wet (scattered heavy showers) and very foggy. When the fog lifted, it sometimes did during the breaks in the rain, the views from where we were staying was awesome. We were at the top looking down over the valley and we could see over to the other side of the valley and all the waterfalls. It was worth what we paid to rent the house even if only for the fact that we all got to chill and relax and in Katey’s case sleep lots. I did learn that no one finds it funny when you say ‘good evening’ when they finally get up at 11:30am; they argue that it is still morning. Yeah right. I had been up since 8am so it was basically evening to me.

Our first two events (Essence of India 2 and 3) went well. Tiring but well. The participants all said good things about us like that we were always smiling and willing to help, which is what we are being ‘paid’ for. Even though the hours are long (start work at 8am during an event and on a good day finish at 10pm) it is enjoyable so does not always feel like we are working. We get to do things like go to the movies, learn Bollywood dance, learn about other cultures, shock people when we say that NZ only has around 4mil people ~ for some reason people think it has heaps more. Also our days off are much enjoyed as we need the break.

In case you haven’t yet heard I am now kinda blonde. Bout a week ago went to a saloon to see if they could dye hair blonde and see what it cost. They did and it even had a free appointment then so got it done. I say I am kinda blonde as they put the bleach in my hair to get rid of the ginger so that the blonde would take, hour and a half later it was concluded that that was as less ginger as I would go and they decided to wash it out. Joyful fun. At least I had some good company. Elyse even decided to get her belly pierced while we waited which was entertaining.


The main excitement here is that we now have tv J we haven’t had working tv the whole time we have been here and until we got working tv didn’t realize how much we all had missed it. Just to make it clear we have had a television that works but all you could play was dvds and vcds as the tv channel bit of it did not work. Now that it does we spend our free time channel surfing. The pther night we watched a bit of spiderman dubbed over in hindi. That is the trick here, finding English programmes. Also the shocking thing is when on MTV you see the rap videos and the girls are wearing nothing ~ it just seems so wrong after two months of being covered up. Shall be interesting to see if I wear my mini skirts when get back or if they seem too revealing.

Our new participants arrived on Monday. 40 of them, all from England. Two more to come (they were here last event but have been traveling) and they are also from the UK just from Scotland. International night shall be either very interesting or very short…

I want...

A Hot Shower. I know that I should just be happy that we have water again and that we can have showers but still I want a Hot shower. Would even settle for a warm shower, just not the freezing cold that have been having.

We have had about 2 days of rain which is very good but for Pune to not be having a water shortage we need atleast a month of rain, probably more.

So lets keep hoping...

Hmmmm...

Gonna leave an update cos I think you guys probably want one not because I feel like it. Am very exhausted at the moment, dunno if it is just from lack of sleep or whether I am sick. Too exhausted to even figure that out.

So here is what is happening at the moment. I have not had a warm shower for so long have forgotten what was is like. There are a few reason for this, one we have a water shortage due to the fact we have no had monsoon yet (it has kinda started now but not proper rain, just drizzle) so cant let shower run on, also the sun has not been shinning for long enough each day so our solar tanks are not heating the water. Normally when this happens we get heaters turned on beside the solar heated water tanks to warm the water but due to the lack of rain the power supply (which is hydro here) is very low and we do not have enough for unnessacry power.

Sound fun yet? Don't worry there's more!

Last night we ran out of water, so no shower at all. Not so bad really as was far to tired to stand up long enough for one. We may be getting a water tanker to ddeliver some water but this is not cheap and will not make a big enough difference if the rain does not come. Will just mean we have water to drink and cook in and flush toilets with.

So who still wishes they were here with me???


Nah its still all fun. For work tonight we are taking the participants (39 for those that keep asking, from USA, Ireland, UK) to see a Bollywood movie at the cinema ~ Kambakkht Ishq ~ meant to be very good (depending on the review) or utter trash.

Day off tomorrow ~ yay :)

Bollywood Dance

Just had bollywood dance session. Have been looking forward to it for over a month and it did not disappoint, though the amount of steps that are just line dancing with hand actions is surprising. Not surprising is how bad I was. When whoever it is that builds our DNA assembled mine they left out co-ordination, grace, balance and hand-leg-brain communication, which in my opinion makes me very unique but also a very bad dancer. Had plenty of fun still which is all that matters

1st day of 1st event down

There are four very tired volunteers in Pune at the moment. Work started 8am and finished sometime after 10pm, cept for me who is on-call tonight and tomorrow night which means that I may end up working all night. Lets hope that does not happen. But boy was today fun. The participants that we have (from Norway, Scotland and USA) seem very nice and are enthusiastic which is what we want so that is good. Feet are especially tired.

Tomorrow is another very busy day. And tomorrow night we are going out to the cinema's to see a Bollywood movie with the participants. We are going to see New York ~ wouldn't have been first pick but it is the only one that is playing so we had no choice. Reviews are indicating that it will be very good so here's hoping.

Just chilling in the staff lounge at the moment, with Priya and Gwen. Off to bed in a few minutes though as feet are about to fall off.

Take care and Smyl plenty :) :) :)

And they say plastic surgery aint bad for you...

OK so it will not come out as the main cause for Wacko Jacko's death but it had to play a part. No one can have that much unnecessary surgery and look that bad, then have a heart attack at 50 and the two not be related. Lets just hope that for his funeral etc they pick an earlier photo not a so recent one. The sad news is that he wont be coming to NZ anytime soon for a concert (not that he was likely to, but a girl can hope), then again maybe he will and his ghost may be a better performer as they don't run out of energy.

On a more positive note (unless your my ma for whom I'm sure this aint all that gooda news), it is possible to do Indian fashion in black. I have some very nice black Indian outfits now, am still looking for a nice sari but I'm sure that will come :)

Finally a pic of a punjabi suit

This is us at our welcome ceremony. From left: me, Gwen, Sara, Priya, Candle stick, Darsh, Donna, Zan, Manisha, Katey

This is us in our punjabi suits just before the Maha dinner. From left: Donna, Katey (in her Irish sari), Manisha, Me, Zan, Darsh, Gwen, Sara (in her sari).

Sari and me

Tied my first sari on myself today. Didn't do a to bad a job either, even Aruna (who was showing us how to do it proper and who will make us re-do it if it is not up to her high standard) said that it was a good job esp as I did not need help from anyone. Yay me :)

---- If you are wondering why I am wearing a dark blue-ish sari it is because it is a WAGGGS sari and they are the sari's that we have to were for all important occasions and ceremonies here. They have little trefiols all over them. Not the best design but they may be getting changed to Sangam sari's sometime this season, and they will be purple. Also I am wearing the wrong blouse (shirt thing) underneath. They are meant to be the blue of the sari but there were none small enough for me so am getting one tailored.

Dont mess with pyshco animals!

Best advice you may ever get from India :)
There was a seriously pissed off crow here this morning. Anyone who went outside in the courtyard got attacked, and I do mean attacked. The crow dive bombed them. Was kinda funny when Aruna reminded us not to go out and then she did to talk on her cell and she got attacked. Then the crow tried to dive bomb Mandesh, so not wise of it. The two dogs were trotting beside him and they are very protective of him, he is the one person that I think both dogs love the most. They follow him everywhere, run after him and also chase down crows when they threaten him. Was rather funny to watch Lucky try catch the crow and then when he missed it (turns out a crow can fly out of the way of a dog. Who would have guessed...) Bubli decided that she may have better luck. Not really, she almost got dive bombed too. To not get attacked we went shopping. Still not used to it being so busy on a Sunday, busiest day of week over here it seems.

After the placid snake that just showed off its twirling and slizzering skills on Wednesday (turns out all those people that said there are snakes in India were not lying), we have had a fun week. Also saw first cockroach this morning. Only kinda big. Didnt fly, but then monsoon hasnt started yet so those ones might still be coming.

Mini update

Things are getting busy here in preperation for our first event of the season. We have a lot of work to do and some of it cant get done due to lack of materials, or computers. We only have one between four of us at the moment and we all need to use it lots more than we can. Our computer nextwork is also being upgraded or something today till sun evening so we have no access to computers or internet at all during this time. Next week is going to be very busy and is likely to include so very late nights to get everything ready in time. But I am looking forward to it, esp as next week for two mornings we are helping out at a local deaf school. We are going to be running some games and crafts for the children. Lots more fun than being cooped up in the Programme Room where we almost always are.

Finally some pics :)

Our Swimming pool at Sangam
Mendhi that was done on me for the Maha Dinner
Gwen, Me, Manisha and Zan (the Volunteers)
Elephant statue at Empress Gardens
Aga Khan Palace

Update number two

Hey there.

Things are going well over here. Weather is hot and it has not rained again, they are now saying that we have two weeks till the monsoon starts. Is hot while we are waiting for the rain but with rain comes powercuts and muggyness which with no power is a lot worse than just hotness.

Our training last week consisted of going out a lot so this week is going to be harder as we are not going out until wed. We do have a Maharastian Dinner tonight which shall be good. A Maha Dinner is a traditional dinner so we will be eating off the floor and will be dressed up. Am looking forward to that.

We went out friday night and it was loads of fun. The best thing about going out here is that pubs/clubs shut at 11.30. You may think this is early but you get there around 9 so it is plenty of time. Zan and I think it is an excellent time as it is around when you start getting bored/tired and you do not have to be the party pooper and say lets go home as you know the club will do that for you :) Also was fun cos they was playing T20 on the big screen. We meet a couple of Sara's friends from here and they were nice. The owners of the place kept bringing us free shots, apparently they do this (esp for Sangam people) as they know that if they treat us well we will be back and if we really like it then we bring the next lot of people, so it is all really just good business.

Almost breakfast time and am very hungry (still not used to having to wait till 8.30 for food in the morn) so shall end this here. Have a good day. Hopefully photos will be up next post.

Love

Shopping

Went shopping today. Again. Guess what we will prob do a lot here....

Got my Punjabi dress (well the materiel, it is currently with the tailor and will be ready on Saturday so soon shall be able to put a photo of me wearing it up so that you guys can see what a Punjabi dress is).

Also got some bangles. Red and maroon ones to be worn together, they are plain and can be worn separately but look better together. Also got a patterned green set which looks very nice. In this part of India green bangles means you are married but I liked them lots so got anyhow. Who cares if I aint married, it's not like people don't stare anyway and what's one more reason...

Got a few other things as well, birthday present for someone and some stuff for me. And no even if you guess correctly whose present I bought I will not tell you :) Still gotta have some fun.

Weekly update number one

The first rain of Monsoon season arrived this afternoon. Didn’t realize how much I missed rain and the cold until the moment that it started. First it was just a few drops then it got heavier and heavier until it was a proper storm with thunder and lightning and wind and proper rain. Eszter, Katey and I all went out and danced in the rain, that is how excited we were. All thought that maybe the rain was a myth told to get us foreigners through each week.

Before the rain this week has been hot but good. I have been kept busy learning the ropes for the up coming events that are being run in Sangam. There are four of us Programme Volunteers, Manisha (Canada), Zainab (England), Gwen (Malaysia) and me. We are currently staying in a dorm room because our rooms are being painted. In a week we will be moving to our rooms, which are two per room so we have to decide who’s gonna share with whom. That is also one reason we are in the dorm, to give us time to get to know each other a bit. We are all getting along well, which is a good sign as we are going to be working together a lot in the coming months.

Yesterday we had our solo challenge around Pune, which was fun. No where near as scary as I expected it to be. We each were given a pack and in it was some money for the rickshaws (three wheeled taxi bike things. Very fun to ride in and hard to get to go where you want sometimes) and entry fees for places. There were also four envelops and in each was a question sheet we had to answer for that stop, the destination for the next stop and a cheat card for that stop (these were incase we couldn’t find anyone who could read English as they had the place we were looking for in Marathi.

My first stop was a temple. Lord Shiva’s temple although that is not the real name. The proper name is some huge long thing that I cannot pronounce let alone spell, it does begin with O though if that helps J Found some nice people who could answer my questions for me, some who answered in Marathi, even though I couldn’t understand I did notice that they were very happy that they were able to help me, so I smiled and thanked them. They did try after all.

My second stop was a copper workshop. This was the only time I needed to use my cheat card as no-one seemed to know what the English translation was, but instead of just saying so they would point me in a direction so I was walking round in circles for ages. When I used the cheat card this did not help all that much as still got pointed in a vague direction but at least all pointed the same vague way. Eventually found a sop keeper that knew where the place was. Once there I found a very nice guy who could read English to answer my questions. He had tidy handwriting to.

The third stop was the Osho International Meditation Centre. Very quiet and serene. And bizarre, having a big flash place just for meditating. It was in the rich part of Pune which was a interesting sight, especially as we live next to a slum here at Sangam. In the slum next to us there are 10,000 people, and the slum is the same size as Sangam (around 7 acres). Hard to comprehend, even though I have seen it.

Fourth stop was the Empress Gardens, there was no task at this stop as it was our picnic lunch stop. There the rest of the staff came and joined us.

Katey (Ireland) is the Assistant Programme Manager, and Eszter (Hungary) is the Programme Manager, these are the two that we will be working with the most. Eventually you may get to hear about the rest of the staff here. Sara (Wales) is also here but only for another week as she is just here to train us (she is a volunteer from the winter season last year).

We have a very nice swimming pool here, and I have already been for many swims. Yes I am finally using my togs. There are lights in it so we are able to swim after dark which is very good as it tends to be too sunny during the day and after tea we are very full. All of you who said that I would lose weight living in India have obviously never stayed at Sangam. The food is so good that it is hard to stop eating. I am already putting weight on and some of the tight fitting clothing that I brought is no longer comfy to wear at all.

It has been discovered that we do not speak ‘english’ in NZ. It turns out that we speak some other language all together. The amount of words that the other people here do not know is amazing, as is the amount that make them laugh. Top of the list at the moment would be jandels, togs and mufti. Also my supposed accent is apparently rather funny. they seem to not realize that it is them with the accent not me J

We all know that psychologists make stuff up and here is proof

Did a inkblot test just now and guess what I am suposidly...

Thats right an Insane Psychopath
{You obviously don't think like others, you are crazy, dark and twisted but you really don't care. You are likely to end up in solitary confinement.}

Its that solitary confinement that really will drive me crazy but at least you all now know where to find me in a few years time :)

They let me out :)

Yes they let me and, and even better I was then let in. So am now in India, Pune to be exacter. Sangam is very nice and I am tired so yeah.

Just thought you might like to know that I am still alive and happy.

Take care

It's amazing what you learn...

Did you know if you have enough whiskey packing aint actually to bad. The only problem is that to get to that stage you are a little tipsy so packing takes a bit longer, but being more fun it does not matter.

Also when a carpet cleaner tells you to ventilate the room well before using there may be a reason for this, but being late a night I decided not to worry. And then to mix that smell with Raid is not wise - this is all a cockroaches fault. If it weren't for him I wouldn't have had to use the Raid so not really my fault.

Have finally found perhaps the best cd combination for stereo.
Trapt - Someone in Control
Godsmack - Faceless
Fuel - Angels and Devils

Pity am going overseas and loaning cds and stereo to brudda while gone as these cds aint the same on a laptop :(

Can you learn to like something you hate???

Since I have been living in Tga I have had more colds, more stomach bugs and just generally been sicker than any other period of my life. And I think that I have figured out the cause.

Your mother takes better care of you than you realise. When I lived at home she would feed me all sorts of gross stuff but because it was served up on my plate, I had to eat it, that was the rule (still is when I am at home, and it's a good rule). She would also serve up yum stuff that was also good for me, that stuff was the best.

At uni I was pretty good healthwise (well other than real low iron) and that is probab;y thanks to my temporary mum Janine and Peter (1st year chef) who took good care of me.

Auckland has me a bit fuzzy as did not cook when lived there, but then didn't do any grocery shopping much either so had no bad food and the closest takeout was healthy (roast dinners, malaysian or indian food). Also Grandma feed me very well and looked after me great when I went and spent the weekend with her.

But here is Tga I don't cook, and cos the nearest takeout is ndot very good fish and chips I go grocery shopping so buy junk and eat that instead. Figure that when I get back I should start cooking proper dinners etc. The problem with this is not that I am bad at cooking, am actually a decent cook, its that I hate cooking. Its a stupid waste of time and I jsut hate it.

So do you think I can learn to like it???
Lets hope so

It appears we are fighting

Me and Phoenix that is. And if we weren't before we sure are now. And just so you know, He started it, I didn't. Well don't think I did.

The reason that I know we are fighting is cos his radio blew. Well technically it sparked and then just ceased to go, no sound, no lights, no nothing. Very rude I must say. What am I meant to do with no music, cant even hear the stupid ads that the radio plays with songs in between. Cant listen to anything :(

So we are fighting!

Excerpts from ‘Never Hit A Jellyfish with A Spade’ by Guy Browning.

This book has How To articles that Browning wrote for the British newspaper The Guardian and here are some of the best bits.

On How To…

Ø Die: ‘The best way of preparing for death is to make sure you have a good life. This doesn’t mean you should live each day as if it were your last. You don’t want to spend every day of your life with eighteen anxious relatives around your bed and a priest warming up in the hall.’

Ø Be Beautiful: ‘Some people start ugly but become beautiful, like the ugly duckling. But if you are young and ugly you should brace yourself for the fact that most ugly ducklings grow up to be ugly ducks. On the other hand, swans make a nasty hiss while ducks make a lovely quake. There’s got to be a moral there somewhere.’

Ø Get Up: ‘If you don’t think anything will get you up in the mornings, simply have a small child. Then you will be able to get up quickly and efficiently, and you’ll be able to do this six or seven times every night.’

Ø Meditate: ‘The constant repetition of ‘om’ can help induce a trance-like state, either because your brain settles down or because your flatmate has just punched your lights out.’

Ø Reorganize Your Room: ‘Reorganizing your room is a cheap form of therapy, if you discount the cost of physiotherapy to rebuild your back after the attempt to move your bookcase with all the books still in it.’

Ø Be A Student: ‘When you first become a student you have to decide whether your life is going to centre around coffee or alcohol. If it’s alcohol, then you drink yourself stupid on a regular basis. This is a vital part of the education process. The first year has to be spent in the student bar where beer is cheap; the second year is spent between the off-licence and your evil-smelling digs; and the last year is spent in rehab, or the library as it’s sometimes known.’

Ø Put People At Ease: ‘The best way to put someone at ease is to make them feel superior. You can do this by admitting you’re stupid or sad or unlucky (most people will assume you’re at least two out of three already). The fastest way to make other people feel superior is to bang your own head quite hard against a low beam. This instantly robs you of dignity, composure and intelligence, and makes virtually anybody else look as though they’ve got their life completely together.’

Ø Love: ‘Men love women because they are the loveliest things on God’s earth. Women love men because chocolate can’t mow the lawns.’

Ø Live Together: ‘The key to living together in a relationship in the same as in the diplomatic world: nothing keeps people together like a common enemy. That’s why living together so often leads to children.’

Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks

The Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of Shadows (book one); Shadow's Edge (book two); Beyond the Shadows (book three).
Author: Brent Weeks


Azoth, a Guild rat is desperate to get out of his current life and is willing to do anything to make this happen so he makes a deal which sees him become an apprentice to Durzo Blint, the best assasin, or wetboy as he prefers to be called, in the city.

A wetboys life is harder than Azoth realised. To start with he must turn his back on his old life and friends, especially Elene the girl he loves, and to do this he must become Kylar Stern. Durzo Blint teaches Kylar the basics of a wetboys survival; how to fight, make potions, and how to not care. In his new life Kylar sees just how corrupted the city he lives in is and is taught that he can do little to help. This, however, does not stop him from trying.

The Night Angel trilogy is filled with adveture, magic, betrayal, love, propheyies, war, hope, and more making it a fantastic series by debut author Brent Weeks. And as an added bonus starts one of possibly the best characters, that being Durzo Blint.

Dead arm is now gone

Went to get my jabs for India earlier this week and once again I ending up paying to get a dead arm which my brother would have given me for free, although his would not have lasted anywhere near as long.

I am now immunised against Polio (yup am going to one of the four countries in the world that still has polio, the others being Afganistan, and Pakistan and cant remember the fourth). Also am immunised against a few other things but cannot remember what, knew there was a reason they wrote it down for me.

I opted against paying $450 to be immunised agaisnt Rabies, for one it cost me enough without that added to it, and another is that I aint been bitten by a dog yet so will take my chances over there and not get bit again. If I do get bit and die its all good as my health insurance covers the cost of bringing my body (or ashes) back to NZ. I also have to take my chances with being bit my mosquitoes as all of Australiasia has run out of the immunisation for Yellow Fever (think that is the one, if not then they have run out of whatever it is), which would prevent me getting a brain infection and dying from mossie bite, thus savign me a further $385.

Interesting how the jabs to immunise against the things that can kill you cost the most. Guess they figure that people wont want to take chances so they can make money and if the immunisation does not work then said person will not be around to ask for a refund on the failed jab

My brudda text me last night to point out that I sounded rather pissed off yesterday in my post, sorry bout that, was just annoyed as work mates laughed at me for not knowing it was daylight savings. Still think the whole idea is stupid though.

Not been up to much recently. Been working lots, well as much as I can as need the money for India. Only 7 more weeks of work to go, just under really :) Getting bit more exciting now.

Not got much to say so instead of blabbling junk I shall go and do something productive - like try figure out a pin for my credit card...

I gotta move...

Stupid dumb New Zealand and its stupid dumb daylight savings crap. Who was the idiot that came up with the dumb idea... New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson. Wow look I get to blame a kiwi, makes it easy as wont have to go far to torture him to death (well the best you can an already dead guy)

Once again I came to work an hour early and had to sit and wait. And before you laugh because I 'forgot' or say its my fault, you can only forget something if you knew about it to start with, and like normal no one thought to tell me it was that time of year again, or even thought to remind me.

Meanies, all of you.

So I shall move to somewhere where this crap idea does not exist!!!

Sad news and happy news

Well guess shall let you know the sad news first as it is always better to hear/read something good after the bad rather than bad after good, well thats what I think as since I am the one writing you just get to read it the way I want you to, well guess you could skip to the end and then read the start if you really want the good first.

Grandma Miller (dads mum) died on Friday morning. She was 91 so she did rather well and as far as I know it wasn't a painful death which in my opinion is the best thing as no one deserves pain at the end. She will be missed. Hugs to all of you who need some and some to those who just want some :)

Happy news is that my good friend Rochelle got married yesterday. She looked very beautiful and happy. So did her now husband, well he wasnt beautiful more handsome I'd go with. It was a lovely ceremony and reception, although I did not stay for the dance part but I'm sure that was also very good.

Now just for a random bonus news bit, and if anyone dies of shock at this news or almost does I am not to blame, you have been warned. Although I thought it may never happen it has, there is a little kid that is actually cute and not too bad. Admittidly I haven't seen her when she has been screaming but still she is kinda kool. Well done Marianne and Mark :)

Sangam Guiding World Home

is in India, which is where I will be from June to September. Yup I am off to do some of my O.E., guess you'd call it that as I will be overseas experiencing stuff. I am going to be a Volunteer Program Assistant at Sangam for just under 4 months.
More details coming. . .

Sorry didnt tell many of you by text but was waiting for it to be confirmed and then it was, at the end of the month and there is no money on my phone and less than no money in my bank account as some meanie (look at me being all poilte, mind not so nice) stole my money and has put me in overdraft, damn debit plus card and torchwood. No I not mad, just pissed and annoyed as bank gonna charge me for being overdrawn and it not my fault and realgroovy wont email me back as to whether they at fault or someone else.

But i'm still smylin as no one said that this world is fair or plays nice so I shouldnt expect any more

Hmmm what to say...

So its another Monday, did you notice that? I did as meant had to get up. Some days work feels more like work than it should. Hard to get up, and not interested in work, but guess that is the 'real' world.

Went to Tania's (friend from work) wedding on Saturday, it was real good. Rather wet though so her plan of a garden wedding was changed but it was still very enjoyable and she was very pretty. Going back to Taranaki in few weeks time for Chellz wedding, which will also be very goo I suspect.

Not much else has been happening. Watched Torchwood season two for pa, had to check that the discs were not damaged. It is a very good season and if you are watching it on tv I wont spoil it for you but you are in for a fantastic season finalie (though I may be biased on that it is still very good)

Rush of Wings - Adrian Phoenix

Dante is the star of the rock band Inferno and rumoured to be the owner of the hot New Orleans nightspot Club Hell. He was born of the Blood then broken by an evil beyond imagination.
FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace’s hunt for the sadistic serial murderer known as the Cross Country Killer leads her to New Orleans, Club Hell and Dante.
Heather knows that something is linking Dante to the killer making him the next target but Dante resists her help and claims to be ‘nightkind’ aka a vampire. Heather believes she must unravel Dante’s past to stop him being the target but Dante has a dark secret, which once revealed it seems that no one can protect him from his destiny.

I picked this book up as I figured that with a lead character by the name Dante it had to be good. In fact it was better. A Rush of Wings was hard to put down and it had me hooked from page one.

Country all the way

Now most people right this talented man off as being a, I don't know really but not a good thing, and yet he is makes fantastic music. Guess you wanna know who I am talking about don't you, well that would be Mr Billy Ray Cyrus. Yup he is talented and I finally found one of his albums (all be it in the Warehouse clearence bin) and let me tell you it is better than even I would have guessed. I love his song Achy Breaky Heart (which just for your information some other guy released about a year before Cyrus did under the title Don't Tell My Heart and it flopped big time, Cyrus released it and it went big so that's gotta tell you something. It is still one of the most played country songs in the states), and yet that single is not the best song on the album.

You really should listen to some of his stuff and enjoy, its really easy to do. This album may just be the best album I get this year!

Thing they really should test and yet don't

I am guessing that by admiting this in writing is not nessecerity the wisest thing but since when I have I been that wise, really? And its not exactly admiting something - if you pay attention - its more maybe impying something, and those two things are very different!

When you go and get your licence they test that you know your road rules and that you can drive and see hazards while you are doing that driving. But there are other things that maybe they should test for, one in particular - what color you associate with go and stop. Sure if you are color blind you may not be able to get your licence, that they test for, but in general I think not being color blind but associating color that is different to the standard stop/go colors may present a problem. For example if you see red and think go and green means stop. Not always good.

Gotta learn to say NO!

You'd think after all these years of seeing dofus work so much and thinking that he is overworking himself that I wouldv'e learnt not to do the same but no. My problem is that I feel mean saying no to Dave or Jo if they ask if I can work and I'm not doing anything that day so I say yes. But this time I mayv'e learnt my lesson. Have just finished a 47 hour week, and before that was a 43 hour week and this week is going to be a 42 hour week. Which basically means I am working 6 or 7 days a week, silly me. Thankfully someone invented public holidays so that I do get the odd day off every so often.

Have come up with a new years resolution from this though, Work Less!

Wow it has been awhile...

Did you think I had disappeared??? Tough, no such luck :)

It seems that not much has been happening since last post but really it has. Christmas is over :) and so is new years. Spent the first with my brudda in Vegas and the second with friends at Whangamata.

Ma and Dofus came to visit the week after new years and that was kool. As a result Ma and I are off to Singapore in July :) very exciting.

Our flat is getting a new flatmate. He is moving in on Thursday and seems like a rather nice guy. Our puppy (who aint really a puppy but he still gets called puppy) is good and listens to me, well when I tell him to sit and stay which in my opinion is the important cammands, especially when the gate is open.

Not much else is happening. I am working far to much and need to learn to start no when I get asked if can work, especially if am already workign 5 or 6 days that week. I am getting better, but not soon enough I don't think.

Hope you are looking after yourself and all your loved ones :)